


Red Little Girl

by irishluff



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Developing Relationship, Domestic Violence, F/M, Songfic, Year That Never Was, mental deterioration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-03
Updated: 2013-02-03
Packaged: 2017-11-28 00:51:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/668393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishluff/pseuds/irishluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As time passes, Lucy slides further down into the Master's web, until he's all there is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Little Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Song is Slide by the Dresden Dolls.

_a late april day and it's sunny outside_

_and a red little girl's at the top of a slide_

_and an an orange old man at the bottom_

_wants to take her for a ride_

He first spots her at a banquet, the unremarkable Lucy Cole, a woman that seems to be doing everything she can to blend in. He recognizes her type, meek little things that radiate vulnerability and low self-confidence, but something about her draws him, so he stops by the bar and returns to her, smile on his face and drink in his hand, and begins his work.

_as she slips and she tumbles the orange man mumbles_

_pennies crash down from the sky_

It doesn't take much persuading to get her on a first date, and then a second and a third. She drinks up his affection, more than she'd ever gotten, and he's eager to show it. He wants to show her she's special, even if she isn't. He especially likes buying her things that sparkle, dressing her up like a doll, showing off how well he can afford to treat his partner. She just likes the attention.

_and he tells her he'll take her away where it's safe_

_and of course it is a lie_

He shows her the big blue box and invites her inside, telling her there is something very special she needs to see, something just for her. It's like a whole new world in there, all wonder and nonsense, and she thinks she likes it. He tells her about a place, Utopia, at the end of creation. A place no other human has ever been. She's so excited, right up until he opens the doors. Though the world before her seems to burn with the heat of a thousand dying suns, all she can feel is cold of her insides freezing up. Inside her head, she begs him to take her home, she doesn't want to see any more of this, but she finds she can't move. All she can do is watch with wide eyes, taking it in, while he stands behind her and holds her in a way that almost makes her feel safe.

_she's a third the down and her skirts are yanked up_

_and her little girl cheeks start to wrinkle_

When he takes her to bed, he times it carefully, waiting long enough so it doesn't feel as if he's using her (even though he is) but not so long that she's suspicious. Lucy does what she always does and lets him lead, trying to find a happy medium between improper and too easy to be worth it. In a happy coincidence, their middle grounds intersect, and he lays his claim on her. He doesn't take much longer to propose, which makes her feel a bit like the sex was a test of sorts, but she doesn't say anything.

  
_but her smile is wide and her legs are spread wider_  

Even after Cole becomes Saxon and the pretenses of being unmarried drop, she's so proper when they're out in public together, a porcelain doll with a string in her back, so much he almost laughs. Idly, he wonders how many good fucks it'll take before she loosens up.

  
_her hair growing long and her hips getting larger_  

Her friends say she looks different, but she doesn't see it. Maybe being married makes her dress differently, or maybe it's just the feeling she's worth something that's different.

_past getting brighter_

The future was bright, but then they invaded. Now things are getting so much better for him, people dying and the Doctor getting sadder by the day, but she's so distant and cold and she misses the days of put-on affection.

_light growing weaker...._

It isn't until he hits her that there's any real change. But the sting of his palm or the ache of his bruises mean her world collapsing, and she finds it harder to remember how to smile. Meanwhile, he wonders when his wife grew so quiet.

_she is halfway down now but the man is impatient_

_shakes change in his pocket he might have to wait but she's coming..._

  
_she's coming..._  

He's angry with her now, all the time, because she's far away, and she tries so hard to come back but every time she does all she feels is the cold of Utopia. This time there's no arm around her though, so she's so lost and alone, it almost makes sense to hit her- it's something she still feels. She'll never say that, though. All it would do is encourage him, and he finds enough reasons on his own. She hasn't decided yet if hurt is better than nothing, but she'd rather it not be him, not when he still tries to be her husband some days. He'll decorate her with pretty things and show her off, just like he always has, but somehow it doesn't feel as flattering as it used to. Still, she can be his dress-up doll if that's what makes him happy. All the hurt in the world, someone ought to be happy, and it might as well be him.

_who are you blaming?_

_they're just playing!_

_that's a good one..._

_who left the playground_

  
_a good decade before the bell rang?_  

She was supposed to be safe in all this, his wife, the one out of seven billion he wanted to share the world with, but now all there is is pain, for everyone, even for him it seems. He should be happy, but he never is, not when the Doctor won't speak and Martha won't die and Jack still flirts with him every time he goes down to spill his blood. It was supposed to be their little game, release the Toclafane and millions die, but it's ok because they're dancing. Now though, no one's playing but him. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it was never supposed to be like this...

  
_as she starts to draw nearer the view becomes clearer_  

Everyone thinks she just stares, sits in rooms and takes in nothing, but it's the opposite. She sees everything through her sharp, empty eyes, she just doesn't care anymore.

_the splinters are painful but she doesn't feel it_

Even his fists have less of an impact now that they're so regular. They're a fact now. Just let him finish, it's better that way.

_the pennies were loaded and as they exploded_

  
_she starts to spin out of control..._  

She sees through his gifts now, she's realized that every bruise has a diamond to match, and learns to hate little boxes wrapped with a bow. Perhaps she used to think he was trying to make up for it, but really, he's trying to distract her from the hurt so he can turn around and do it again. It doesn't matter, though. What does, anymore?

_her eyes are now closing her sleeves are unrolling_

  
_up past her head and her veins are all showing_  

He takes her to their bed whenever he feels the urge now (and it's quite often), and she allows him to, if only because she likes being so close to him, and maybe she'll feel a bit less empty with him inside her. More than likely, she's crossed the line into too easy to be worth it, but something tells her he likes her better that way. He's just glad she's loosened up a bit.

_not that she noticed she's thoroughly focused on_

_one old man who's laughing..._

_who's laughing...._

He looks into the eyes of the dead little thing under him, so far gone from anything not him, and he knows he's won with this one.

_dont' worry_

_i've got you_

"I love you."

_don't worry_

  
_i've got you_  

"I need you."

  
_don't_ _worry_  


  
_i've got you_  

"I'm yours."

**_the orangeman's got you!_ **

 

She feels his arms around her, and she knows she can never belong anywhere else. He's cruel and hurtful but no one has ever bothered to make her feel loved before him, and she can't help but fall for that. So she sits in his arms even when his fingers brush fresh bruises, and curls into his chest, and when he tells her she belongs to him, she can't do anything but agree. 

_a late april day and it's sunny outside_

_and a red little girl's at the top of a slide_

_and an an orange old man at the bottom_

_wants to take her for a ride..._


End file.
